For now, however, there is virtually no sign of any American goodwill toward Iran, only animosity. Another clue to the tone of engagement is the delisting of the Iranian group, Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK), from the US list of terrorist groups, which will be decided on in the next few weeks. This is bound to heighten tensions as Tehran abhors the US protection of the MEK’s Camp Ashraf inside Iraq.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “should ignore their [MEK] P.R. campaign. Mujahedeen Khalq is not only irrelevant to the cause of Iran’s democratic activists, but a totalitarian cult that will come back to haunt us.” Rubin argues that what is “most disturbing” about the MEK/MKO/PMOI is the way the leaders, Massoud and Maryam Rajavi treats its members that reside in Iraq’s Camp Ashraf.
The organization, accused of having a cult-like culture, bought a full page ad in the Washington Post and has purchased the support of dozens of American politicians and national security experts. The Huffington Post lists 31 prominent people from both sides of the political aisle who have appeared at Mujahedeen Khalq aka MKO/MEK/PMOI-related events.We get analysis from Narimon Safavi, a Worldview regular and president of the Pasfarda Arts & Culture Exchange.
Trita Parsi, founder and president of the National Iranian American Council, discusses the Mujahideen-e Khalq’s tendency to accuse their critics of working for the Iranian government; how constant US belligerence and the MEK’s violent radicalism serve as useful foils for the Iranian regime – discrediting dissidents and keeping the people in fear; how violent coups beget radical authoritarian governments, while nonviolent methods often deliver democratic results; the many former US officials now employed as well-paid lobbyists…
Former CIA officer Philip Giraldi discusses the MEK’s rightful place on the State Department’s (admittedly flawed and politicized) terrorism list; why a lack of determined opposition (unlike to, say, Jonathan Pollard’s pardon) will probably get the MEK what it wants; why Americans never seem to catch on even after being lied into war again and again;…
… Rajavi said the US was responsible to protect MKO members in Camp Ashraf and called for the formation of a permanent monitoring team backed by the United States and the European Union to ensure the safety of the terrorist group. In April, the MKO members clashed with the Iraqi security forces who were involved in an operation to reclaim land from the camp and return it to local farmers. The MKO claimed that the Iraqi forces killed 34 of its members in the clashes. But Iraqi officials refuted the allegation, saying the camp residents were killed by the MKO organization itself …
… Though Shi’i, these people are very popular with the Iraqi ‘Sunnis’, particularly with the Ba’thists, who abhor everything Iranian, except for the ‘Mojahedin-e Khalq’ organization, to whom the Ashraf City dwellers belong, owing to the close alliance this organization used to maintain with the former Iraqi regime. On the other hand, these Ashraf City dwellers are deeply hated by pro-Iranian Iraqi ‘Shi’is’, basically on account of their alleged role in quelling the 1991 Iraqi Shi’i uprising… a sin for which they have never been forgiven by the Shi’i political parties running the show in Iraq today …
“Every power-seeking movement or individual creates ties with foreign powers to achieve its temporary aims…because of the anti-imperial atmosphere of the post-revolution era, in a period of its reshaping, MKO created connections with intelligence USSR. From 1981(1360 solar Islamic year), when on one hand the USSR were not able to publicly oppose the Islamic Revolution and on the other hand, the western powers like US and France had focused their subversive efforts against the government in Iran, they found the prepared ground in cooperation with the west. Another important point is their loss of ground inside the country which led to their tendency to seek help foreign aid for gaining power.
New defections in anti-Iran group Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization. Some former members of the MKO give us some insight into what is happening in the group which is designated terrorist by much of the international community
Blatantly declaring support for the notorious MKO terrorist group, the extremist and Wahhabi TV channel of “Vesal “obviously propagates for the terror cell…the excommunicative channel of Vesal has recently posted an article on its twitter web page in support for the Mujahedin-e Khalq terrorist cult, in which it has brought the terror group’s web address. Surprisingly the extremist Wahhabis kept their fingers crossed for MKO